For the last time this season, looking at players who might be on the waiver wire and are worth rostering, depending on the format of your league.

As you’ve seen many of us say this week at Baseball Prospectus, this will be the last Free Agent Watch of the season. We hope you’ve found it useful at best and legible at worst. We’re also going to be playing around with the format of this piece for next season, so if there’s anything that you think we should be providing in this space that we are currently not, drop us a note in the comments. It’s been real, der readers. This column will see you next in April.

12-TEAM MIXED

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If these players are on the waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of your league.

12-TEAM MIXED

Juan Lagares, OF, New York Mets
September fantasy baseball is all about positioning. And it seems only fitting that a player who is so great at it in the field has made himself awfully useful to those looking to make a push in stolen bases over the last two-and-a-half weeks of the season. Lagares has been better than anticipated all season at the plate and as good as advertised in the field—leading to a ridiculous season per some stats (he’s been worth 3.6 WARP and 5.6 rWAR). He’s been making it count down the stretch, though, as he’s hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, hitting .338/.370/.456 with only eight strikeouts in 73 plate appearances in that time frame. However, the most interesting aspect of his performance has been how many liberties he’s been taking on the base paths. After only stealing four bases over the first four-and-a-half months, Lagares has heisted eight since the start of his hitting streak. With the Mets going nowhere, despite what math may say, Lagares may find himself with the green light as often as he wants it throughout September. That would turn him into a mixed-league play nearly across the board. —Bret Sayre

If these players are on your waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of your league.

12-TEAM MIXED

Mookie Betts, OF/SS/2B, Boston Red Sox
It’s been a roller-coaster season for the diminutive Red Sox rookie, as Betts tore through the upper minors during the first half of the year, and then was briefly shunned after struggling out of the gate at the major league level. The shock of a top prospect not being super awesome right away must have just paralyzed the organization and fan base. Lo and behold, after some experience and soul searching, Betts is doing pretty much was Betts was expected to do by those with unrealistic expectations. After being recalled on August 1st, Betts is just hitting .311/.400/.525 with three homers and three steals in 61 at-bats. In fact, he’s been hitting so well that his 132 OPS+ ranks second on the team, among players with 50 plate appearances or more. With the shallowness of middle infield (and the fact that he carries outfield eligibility to boot), there’s no reason he should be owned in only 26 percent of Yahoo leagues and 18 percent of ESPN leagues. —Bret Sayre

If these players are on your waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of your league.

12-TEAM MIXED

Oscar Taveras, OF, St Louis Cardinals
The statistics haven’t quite backed up the pedigree thus far in St Louis, but Taveras has been quietly improving ever since he was plugged into the lineup nearly every day following Allen Craig’s exportation to the Red Sox at the deadline. In those 24 games, the 22-year-old outfielder is hitting .262/.311/.345 with a homer and nine RBI. So why exactly is he showing up here? Because I’ll always take a chance on a high-end prospect with a strong contact rate upon hitting the major leagues if I need a shot of upside in September. The power certainly hasn’t shown up yet, and he’s showing his mettle as a free swinger, but Taveras has been making some tweaks to his swing, including shortening it up, and the results appear positive thus far. This recommendation isn’t for the owner who needs a reliable source of fantasy production at the back of the outfield, but if you’re trying to make up some ground, Taveras could be just the sparkplug you need. —Bret Sayre

If these players are on your waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of your league.

12-Team Mixed

Oswaldo Arcia, OF, Minnesota Twins
With Arcia having played the 162nd game of his young career, his overall fantasy line— .241 average, 24 homers, 72 RBI and 61 runs scored—doesn’t exactly scream mixed league stalwart. Sure, the power is nice, but he’s also racked up 196 strikeouts over that timeframe—good for a 30.7 percent rate. That’s not going to help him improve on that batting average. However, Arcia’s track record in the minor leagues suggests that he’s not this type of player, and he seems to be heating up of late. While he’s been particularly hot in August, his turnaround has been happening for longer than that. On June 22nd, he was sitting on a 29 at-bat hitless streak and a .638 OPS for the season, but after getting a few days off, Arcia got out from underneath that boulder and has proceeded to hit .260/.350/.463 with six homers in 36 games since. That would be good enough to be relevant in most mixed leagues that start five outfielders, but Arcia’s upside exceeds what he’s done at the major league level thus far. After all, he was a career .314 hitter in the minor leagues (over 434 games). —Bret Sayre

If these players are on your waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of your league.

12-TEAM MIXED

Jonathan Singleton, 1B, Houston Astros
There’s definitely some weirdness to Singleton’s numbers so far this season. The biggest, by far, is that he’s handling lefties extremely well, despite having that knock against him in the minor leagues. I mean, 59 plate appearances is nothing to draw vast conclusions from, but his .264/.322/.566 line against southpaws at least hints at an ability that many thought he’d struggle with. Recently, it hasn’t mattered who Singleton has faced, the power stroke has been out in full force. If the performance against left-handers is even slightly real, that will fill out Singleton’s fantasy value even more than we had initially thought—potentially raising his future batting average and power output (assuming full playing time). After all, Singleton is not going to keep producing like a below replacement-level infielder against right-handers (.589 OPS in 141 at bats). If you just lost Paul Goldschmidt in a shallow league and are looking to at least replace his power, Singleton has a chance to give you some similar output in that arena—albeit, at a price. —Bret Sayre

If these players are on your league's waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of the league.

12-TEAM MIXED

Adam Eaton, OF, Chicago White Sox
It’s pretty incredible that Eaton is still owned in fewer than half of Yahoo leagues and barely more than that in ESPN formats. Eaton returned from the All-Star Break with a vengeance, and he’s been taking it out on opposing pitchers to the tune of a .413/.471/.478 line with seven runs and two steals (along with five walks and five strikeouts). Sure you’d like to see him hit for a little more power, even if it’s not the over-the-fence variety, but if he keeps getting on base at the top of the White Sox lineup, he’s going to score a lot of runs the rest of the way. Additionally, the power (which there is enough of here to make him a double-digit homer guy over a full season) that hasn’t shown up lately will push him toward being an outfielder who needs to be owned in all leagues in August and September. —Bret Sayre

If these players are on your league's waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format in which you play.

Welcome back to our weekly walk through some of the players who may want to keep an extra eye on in your leagues. Mike and I will be tackling this topic on Thursdays again and focusing on a singular hitter and pitcher in four of the more popular formats: shallow mixed, deep mixed, NL-only and AL-only. These are certainly not the only players who are worthy pickups, but it gives us a nice opportunity to write about players we have close tabs on in our leagues.

If these players are sitting on your league's waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format of your league.

Welcome back to our weekly walk through some of the players who may want to keep an extra eye on in your leagues. Mike and I will be tackling this topic on Thursdays again and focusing on a singular hitter and pitcher in four of the more popular formats: shallow mixed, deep mixed, NL-only and AL-only. These are certainly not the only players who are worth pickups, but it gives us a nice opportunity to write about players we have close tabs on in our leagues.

If these players are on your league's waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format in which you play.

Welcome back to our weekly walk through some of the players who may want to keep an extra eye on in your leagues. Mike and I will be tackling this topic on Thursdays again and focusing on a singular hitter and pitcher in four of the more popular formats: shallow mixed, deep mixed, NL-only, and AL-only. These are certainly not the only players who are worth pickups, but it gives us a nice opportunity to write about players we have close tabs on in our leagues.

If these players are sitting on your league's waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format in which you play.

Welcome back to our weekly walk through some of the players who may want to keep an extra eye on in your leagues. Mike and I will be tackling this topic on Thursdays again and focusing on a singular hitter and pitcher in four of the more popular formats: shallow mixed, deep mixed, NL-only, and AL-only. These are certainly not the only players who are worth pickups, but it gives us a nice opportunity to write about players we have close tabs on in our leagues.

If these players are sitting on your league's waiver wire, they might be worth a look, depending on the format in which you play.

Welcome back to our weekly walk through some of the players who may want to keep an extra eye on in your leagues. Mike and I will be tackling this topic on Thursdays again and focusing on a singular hitter and pitcher in four of the more popular formats: shallow mixed, deep mixed, NL-only and AL-only. These are certainly not the only players who are worth pickups, but it gives us a nice opportunity to write about players we have close tabs on in our leagues.